Sennensou no Mi
by velvet-sometimes
Summary: The rarest of healing flowers blooms in a deadly valley, for a thousand years. Kagome must seek it out, to fulfill her responsibilities in the future - but the journey will bring her closer to the past than she ever thought possible. An old friend is waiting; and maybe love in all its forms blooms as long as the flower she seeks.
1. Pure

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Pure**

Kagome sighed as she carefully placed the final bottle of dried herbs in her work cabinet, turning back to her journal to make a notation of just how low the shine was of the various medicines.

The one in particular that had her worried was a small flower. Its berries the only known cure for _Saimyoshou_ poison -as rare as they were in this day and age- that worked on _Youkai_. It had no name besides that of_ Sennensou no M_i; and there was no official record of it's existence in any sort of herboligy book she had come across. But then, most of those books were written for humans, and mortals weren't very keen on keeping up on things that cured _Youkai_ if they had no effect on their own kind. The ones that even knew _Youkai_ existed, at any rate.

That was where the Sunset Shrine differed from most of mainstream Japan though - they specialized in helping Demons in need. So Kagome needed this plant.

Sitting back down at her desk, Kagome rummaged around in the drawers for a long moment, before making a triumphant noise when she emerged from the clutter with a worn slip of paper that held merely a name of a nature preserve and a phone number.

Dialing it was nerve wracking; this was, after all, Kagome's first year of being fully in charge of the shrine and it's practices. Her grandfather used to keep this job to himself before he'd passed; and they'd had no need to track down more for years afterward... but now they were running dangerously low. And so she was finally getting her first opportunity to call the _Youkai_ her family had made a deal with centuries ago.

"This is the number for the Sunset Shrine;" A deep voice growled from the other end of the line, startling her as she hadn't heard him pick up. "What's wrong, you fuddy old priest?"

"Er, Hello..." she replied hesitantly, purely to let the aggressive alpha feel in control, startling the male on the other end. "I'm Ms. Higurashi; the new head priestess. Are you the Wolf Alpha who takes us to retrieve more herbs from the reserve?"

**Note: So I was trying to help a friend come up with a new story idea, as we've both decided to go back to writing some Kagome/Kouga fics that don't involve Inuyasha cheating on anyone/the 'shattering of Kagome's heart and soul', and this idea slapped me in the face and refused to not be written any longer.  
**


	2. Dragon

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Dragon**

"I am." He voice answered, a touch of pride in his tone, though it was marred by the crackle of bad signal.

Kagome gave a sigh of relief. "Oh _good_. I don't know the particulars of the deal between you and our shrine; -I've only just learned there was an agreement with the Wolf Tribe at all actually- but you're our Youkai liaison apparently, and I need to schedule an escort into the mountains for an herb hunt."

If there was one thing Kagome missed about her trips into the feudal era, it was going where ever she pleased, and not having to deal with trespassing laws. _Youkai_ liaisons. Getting _permission_.

The voice was quiet, almost as if he was confused for a moment. "Well, nice of someone to actually _call_ for once; usually the old priest would just show up." The wolf alpha snorted at that, almost sounding like a dragon when it came crackling though her receiver. "But yeah, I'll get one of my boys to take your man up."

"Man?"

"Yeah, the boy you're sending; your shine has always sent males, it's in the agreement."

It was her turn to pause, before delicately offering her next words. "I'm afraid that's going to be a bit of a problem."

"How so?" He asked tightly.

"I'm the only one here."

"Awe, _hell_."

**Note: So we're all on the same page here, This is a post-canon epilogue-divergence. I *always* operate under the belief that the well never reopened after she completed high school. And the flower that is being referenced in the tittle and first chapter is the Sennensou no Mi; the Thousand Year Flower which is brought up in a stand alone episode (Season 4 episode 15; Jaken Falls Ill) which involves Rin's mini adventure to save Jaken. I just wanted to throw that out there for any and all who might be wondering.  
**


	3. Fan

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Fan**

Kagome briefly eyed the small fan that was softly whirring in the window; wishing it would better circulate the air in the room before turning her attention back onto the man on the phone. "Was there a reason the contract specified for males or can we get away with it just this once?"

For his part, the male on the other end of the line growling lowly in his throat, the noise telling of just how heartily displeased he was. "The clause of only dealing with the males of your family is old; as old as the contract itself. I'm not particularly keen on going back on my word; even talking to you now is pushing it."

She sighed, leaning forward rest her forehand in her palm that was propped up on the end of her desk. "I'm almost out of some very important herbs, -ones that we use to heal _Youkai_ and not just mortals- and I don't have time to call my brother back from college to go as a stand in." she paused, figuring he'd need to know if she was to convince him to continue speaking to her. "Since grandpa passed, I'm really the only one running the shrine; there's no one else who can go."

The wolf on the other end of the line snarled something unintelligible.

"Catch the next train coming out; I'll meet you myself with two of my most trusted pack-mates at the station, Priestess." Kagome began to smile, mouth opening to profusely thank him when he continued on. "Pack enough supplies for a week long hiking trip; we'll provide the food and water. If we're going to do this, I've some ground rules to lay down."

"Alright?" she replied, feeling slightly uneasy.

"You stay with one of us at all times; you'll have privacy, but you are under no circumstances to go off on your own. You're also not to use your Reiki unless it is a life or death situation, am I understood?"

"I get the feeling this is to be more dangerous than Grandpa let on."

The man laughed humorlessly. "Priests are allowed on the reserve, mainly because in terms of spiritual users, they are normally the weaker of the sexes, but all sorts of wild demons live out where we're going, little Ms. Higurashi, and to them you'll look like a tasty treat. Just the idea of a Miko on our lands will have them coming after you, to prevent anything you _might_ do."

**Note: ************Afternoon everyone! Today's been wonderful, at least on my end of the monitor; I woke up and had my morning tea via skype with my best-friend/the-love-of-my-life I'm soon to move in with while she made to get ready for work, Got some things done around the house, played with Calsifer (my adorable tabby tom-cat) and am soon to begin writing more! **  



	4. Rancid

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Rancid**

Kagome reclined back into the uncomfortably hard train-bench, leaning her head against the window as she watched the scenery rush past, her heavy backpack pressed into her leg.

In the distance she could see the outdoor overhead of the station, loudly proclaiming what stop it was, and she was thankful for the sight; turning her noise closer to the window so she could breath in the smell of fresh air that was rushing in though the crack.

Even if she hadn't seen the stop, she'd have known she was in the right place from the sweet scent of the breeze that so easily overpowered the rancid smell of the trashcans that were pined by the exits.

After so long in the past, Kagome couldn't easily abide the smells of the city; they were just too strong compared to back then. So really, she was more than a little grateful to be traveling out to see the Wolf tribe; even with it's danger, it was the first chance she'd received since the well had closed to remove herself from the city.

The shine sat stop Tokyo of course, there but distinctly separated, and yet it couldn't even completely banish the city enough for her to feel at home.

And besides, if anyone knew danger, it was Kagome Higurashi. So as the train rolled to a stop with an ear-piercing squeal, She shouldered her bag and stepped out onto the platform without hesitation.

It would take more than a few wild Youkai to scare off the _Shikon no Miko_.

**Note: ************Sorry this didn't get updated sooner today; I had another minor surgery this afternoon and was sleeping off the anesthesia. This was my Third of Five, so _thankfully_, I'm almost done with them all, and will be completely healed up and doing just fine soon. **  



	5. Overshadowed

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Overshadowed**

When Kagome stepped off the train and onto the waiting platform, she smiled at the greenery around her; the way the trees grew so tall they overshadowed the platform, even with the thin strip of lush grass that had grown in from the clearing of the forest to make room for the addition of the track between them and the station.

There was just something about the mountains that felt, smelt, _sounded_ like home to her. It was just so wild; one of the last places that could really claim to be such, and seeing it, feeling it all around her, was as close as she could really come to being back with her companions again.

People flitted past her where she stood, looking out at the woods that buffeted the far side, and she could hear the exclamations of children at the appearance of a flower too far away to reach, and the smell of chicken that wafted in from a street stand somewhere on the other side of the track.

Behind her the train had closed it's doors and began rumbling back down the track, off to some unknown destination, and still she stared at the trees.

But as the last car pulled away, she turned, waiting for it to bare the other side of the track to her vision. And there three men stood in the uniform of Park Rangers; waiting for her.

"You must be Ms. Higurashi." The man in front said in lue of actually asking, his deep, rumbling voice sounding displeased but accepting as he ran fingers though his ponytail, but then he pinned her with eyes so bright a blue they pulled a gasp of recognition from her chest and she couldn't halt the question that was merely a name, that came leaping from her throat.

"Kouga?"

**Note: ************ I got a late start today, so in turn you're getting a later update. Sorry about that, but in other news, My mouth is healing up wonderfully; the incision twinges, but not enough that I've wanted to take any of my pain medication for it. (which has my doctors wondering if there's not something wrong with my nerves, but if it's not hurting, I'm not complaining) **  



	6. World

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**World**

Those eyes widened, making them look even more dramatic against his sun-darkened skin. His head tilted slightly as he looked at her, sniffing the air. For a moment the light caught him, and she could see elongated ears peeking though his hair, and the barest hint of a sharply pointed canine before the moment passed, leaving his glamor as perfectly human as it had been moments before.

It almost felt like her world had twisted itself upside down again, before it came crashing back down around her ears at his next words.

"Of course. Who else were you expecting, Miko?" He asked, a single brow arched and not even a flash of recognition in his eyes, before gesturing to the men flanking him. "This is Hakkaku and Ginta; my seconds in command."

"I know who you all are." she carefully enunciated, walking across the track to stand before them. "I'm _Kagome_." she told them, looking up into his eyes as if waiting for him to catch on.

He backed up slightly to stand closer to his men, looking slightly uncomfortable at her proximity, though they seemed rather curious at her odd behavior. "Eh, yeah. That's great. Pretty name. Now that we're all introduced, lets get a move on; we're wasting daylight."

Kagome felt almost heart broken. It was _Kouga_; her erstwhile suitor, and one of the dear friends she'd lost upon the wells closing forever at her wishing away the jewel. "You don't remember me."

"Of course I do. We spoke on the phone yesterday. You're the priestess who needed to go picking some herbs in demon country."

"No." For some strange reason, even with how much it hurt to be looked at by those familiar eyes without even a flicker of remembrance in them, Kagome felt a flame determination spring up from the pit of her belly, and with it, she began to speak to him, watching with hard eyes as each word impacted almost visibly into the man before her. "The Sengoku Era. Naraku. The Shikon Jewel. Inuyasha. Sit boy. Green sailor school uniforms. The Shikon no Miko. _Your woman_."

**Note: ************ Sorry I hadn't a chance to update yesterday; I was relaxing and getting a bit more written, since this story has no actual plot planned besides that of the original premise; I'm writing this story in Write Nights with our challenge words, and so where as I'm keeping a coherent plot; I've not much planned in the way of what all happens further than what I've completed or towards an ending. **  


**************And as a final note. I don't abide anonymous hate. Have you something you absolutely feel you must share with me; like for instance how you assume I'm going to follow a specific plot line used in another story, then please log in to leave your review so I speak with you about it directly. I've looked into the single anonymous accusation, and as it has no grounds besides that of speculation, I'm going to ignore it.**


	7. Death

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Death**

The wolves moved to stand around her then, s**urreptitiously **sniffing at the ends of her hair, the tips of her fingers, the straps of her bag. Trying to place her scent without attracting the attention of the humans around them.

All except Kouga, who stood before her, holding his breath with eyes wide and fists clinched at his sides. "The Shikon no Miko disappeared with the jewel centuries ago." he announced into the quiet around them, fractured only by the zooming of another train that passed along behind them and the quiet to and fro of conversation somewhere further down the line. "I watched them both flicker out of existence without a single chance at saying goodbye. _I watched you die_."

But she was shaking her head, sending strands of dark hair flying around them as the breeze picked them up and tossed them about; looking to be so much more chaotic than the slow swaying of his ponytail. "No. I never died; the jewel just sent me home." she told him simply, continuing on at his unreadable look. "_Here_, Kouga. _Now_. I was from the _future_. It's been almost Five Hundred years for you, but it's been a scant Ten for me."

She knew he didn't know how to react to that deceleration, and so turned slightly to smile at the twin wolves at her sides, and they offered her timid smiles in reply.

"Is it really you, little sister?"

**Note: My life is consumed with yard-work and dealing with male-things who seem to all of a sudden think my 'Hot Potato' status of being a slightly attractive and completely socially inept shut-in who spends all of her time in her room writing and trolling the internet as appealing. I'm not particularly sure why, but the attention is irksome at best. I assure you that I would pity any male who'd the misfortune of becoming my love interest. Pah.  
**


	8. Life

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Life**

In reply she released a small measure of power, letting it roll over them, buffeting their youki in translucent waves of pink that only they could see.

And the wolf alpha relaxed at the sting of her purity washing over him, closing his eyes and releasing slightly his finely tuned control to allow his own youki to brush against her in return, reveling in the familiarity that was almost as if their powers recognized each other, even after so long.

When he finally looked at her again, there was no anger or hesitance in his gaze, even when she met him look for look in a staring contest that would have been at any other moment a challenge for dominance.

Instead he opened his arms, gesturing for her to come to him, and for a moment, his human image flickered again and she got a flash of deadly claws that seemed to comfort her more than the appearance of soft, mortal hands.

But she approached anyway, coming to stand nose to nose with him before allowing her old wolf to envelop her in his embrace and bury his nose in the crook of her neck, breathing in the scent of her life.

"Welcome home then, familiar stranger. It's been a long time."

"Longer than I'll ever know."

**************Note: Okay. **Guys. Stop freaking out. I couldn't update because my charge cable for my laptop broke and I had to order a new one; all of my work is saved on this machine so without it, you where screwed for a few days. I've not died, I've not suddenly abandoned anything. Chill.


	9. The One-Eyed

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**The One-Eyed**

After a long moment of allowing him to re-memorize her scent and reveling in the feeling of a familiar embrace after so long, his claws that she could feel and yet not see pressing into the dip of her shoulder-blades and the arch of her back, she stepped back, smiling up at him.

She began to speak, only for her words to cut of in a squeak as she was unexpectedly pulled off balance and into the arms of the two wolves in which she'd almost forgotten, and Kagome allowed the laughter that was bubbling up to spill from her throat as they jostled for who got more of her, nuzzling into her neck and hair, tickling with their playful growls.

She spied their leader from the corner of one eye though, watching him watch her, and the way his lifelong companions reacted to her return from the dead.

"Sister! Sister!" they each called, clamoring for her attentions. "Why haven't you come before, if you where just a stones throw over in Tokyo?" Ginta finally asked, silencing his Mohawked twin with a clawed hand over his mouth, only to retract the appendage with a yelp and a triumphant, and toothy, smirk from Hakkaku.

"Because I didn't know any of you were still alive; and I _very much_ didn't realize that our Youkai representative was Kouga." she told them soothingly, running hands through their hair to scratch at their scalps in an action that had their tongues nearly lolling out of their mouths, saved only for their hard won control in the presence of mortals. "And before grandpa died, he'd made a trip up here that kept us fully stocked for years. Only now did I find out just how low on berries from the Sennensou no Mi we were."

Seemingly not being able to take the teasing anymore of her lavishing his pack-mates with affection, Kouga gave a lighthearted growl. "It doesn't matter what took so long if she's here now." he groused. "Come on you bunch of brain-dead puppies, time to head back; smells too human out here."

**************************Note: I think my cat, Calsifer, delights in freaking out at nothing, just to keep me on my toes and somewhat mildly maimed. Yesterday at bedtime it was my pillows, today it was his perch by the window. What's it going to be tomorrow I wonder in vague horror. **


	10. Mischief Madness and Burning

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Mischief Madness and Burning**

It was an almost surreal experience, to be going down the bumpy mountain road in the late afternoon, riding shotgun in a jeep piloted by none other than Kouga himself. Trees grew over the path, enclosing them in a lush world of green and spotty golden brightness that filtered down from overhead, casting them in dappled sunlight that felt so very wonderful on her skin.

"So you've really been here, all these years, huh?" She asked, look around at the scenery surrounding them as she tried to train her eyes off of the man at her side who was maneuvering their vehicle over the rough terrain of a road that hadn't been used in far too long.

Bright blue eyes flashed to her face for a moment, before back to what he was doing. "This has been the Northern Tribe's territory since before the Sengoku era." he replied after a moment, as if weighing his words before finally settling in his mind that it would do no harm to tell her such things. "And when humans began to outnumber us, we thought about modernizing ourselves, but many found the transition... difficult. So the packs joined together to purchase the entire area under the guise of a national preserve for rare and endangered creatures."

Hakkaku's head came between them then, a twinkling of mischief in his golden eyes. "Those who cant handle how modern our world's become live within the borders; old wolves, new tricks and all," He turned to wink slightly at his alpha, and Ginta came forward, his chin resting on Kouga's head, to finish his twins sentence. "But other than that all our members take turns as acting rangers."

Kouga snarled halfheartedly at the pair, one hand coming up to plant itself firmly against the wolf with two-toned hair and shove him back into the backseat, the elbow of his other connecting with the others cheek to do the same.

"That's enough out of both of you; back in your seats you lovestruck puppies."

**************************************Note:So it seems life is trying to make it impossible for me to update anything, and I've not the foggiest as to why. Today, my internet has been waffling in and out, and so far, this is the first time I've been able to make a single website load, so I'm frantically posting this while it actually allows me too. **


	11. Tree of Life

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Tree of Life**

Kagome just smiled at Kouga, arching a single brow in question, and he merely scowled in reply so she let the matter drop. "I notice you boys didn't pack any gear of your own; we stopping somewhere first?"

He gave a jerky nod of affirmative, and giggles erupted from the backseat, causing their surly driver to turn his head back to glare at them, effectively silencing them for about a minute.

And when he seemed to make no move to answer her further she turned back in her seat to face the two guilty looking wolves who where seated behind her.

"Alright, who's going to tell little sister what's going on, because she's officially curious." She offered the pair an encouraging smile when they turned to look at each other, as if questioning how good this idea was.

Before they could say anything, Kouga growled back at them in warning, but she easily cut off the noise, shaping it into more of a surprised yelp when she twisted more fully in her seat, and leaned bodily against his arm and flicking him on the nose before crawling into the backseat herself and landing in a disjointed heap of limbs across the boys laps.

They immediately when into cuddling her, and enjoying the opportunity to actually scent her in earnest.

"The pack's main-house." Ginta finally told her.

"Drop the car off." Hakkaku cut in.

Ginta elbowed him in the shoulder. "Get our stuff."

Hakkaku flicked his ear. "Leave an offering to the god-tree before we set off."

She finally interrupted the two, seating herself between them rather than across their laps so they couldn't continue on with their game. "Offering?"

"Yeah!" The chorused over Kouga's snarl of warning. "The big bad wolf used to leave one at the Goshinboku whenever he'd pay a visit at your family shrine,"

"You know, paying his respects,"

"And we've an ancient one here,"

"So close to it's own sentience that he's been nurturing for a couple of centuries."

**************************************************Note: So sorry I've not been posting as much lately. I've been working on some offline projects; namely my garden, the cat-tree I'm building, A hush-hush gift for my darling, and the steamer trunk I'm restoring.**


	12. Set Free the Spring

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Set Free the Spring**

"You two really have no concept of the fact I'm alpha, do you?" Kouga asked in exasperation, though a scant trace of amusement colored his tone.

"We had to tell her!" Ginta cried.

"She's _little sister_," Hakkaku continued, and she noticed the emphasis thought didn't comment on it. Cobwebs and a fine layer of dust covered her memories of that time; all hidden away in the back of her head where she couldn't dwell on them, though now it seemed as if she _should_ bring them out to stare at them as if they were treasures once more.

"You must do whatever your Little Sister asks of you." they chorused, as if reciting a lesson, and Kouga groaned in response as he turned off the road and onto a smaller path, looking to be a driveway of some sort.

"It's been Five Hundred years. Stop holding that over my head!"

Kagome merely laughed brightly at the exchange, enjoying the familiarity of the wolf alpha's sulking, and the playful back and forth of him and his pack-mates, attracting the attention of the rest of the cars occupants. "You're just as I remember!" she explained.

Kouga met her gaze through the rear view mirror, looking taken-aback. "And you're pleased?"

She smiled at him, leaning back in her seat as they finally rolled to a stop in front of a large cabin. "I was so scared that you'd all be so very different from the versions of you I knew, but you're still just you. Its comforting, to know that even though everything's changed so much, you haven't. You're still still just my Kouga."

**************************************************************Note:Yeah. Sorry. I've not been in the mood to deal with all this non-since lately, and given I've only got one reader, I'm not too worried about it. Actually, Scratch that. I'm not really sure anyone's reading this one. **  



	13. Thunder Lighting Oak

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Thunder Lighting Oak**

The wolves practically hopped out of the car, Ginta grabbing her hand before Hakkaku could from the other side and helped her out of the vehicle, much to her amusement, and leaving his Mohawked brother to grab her bag out of the back.

Kouga gave her little time to take in the image of the glen though, ushering them all inside so he could gather their things. She hesitated though, looking up at the great gnarled Oak that was standing sentry over the space.

"We left our things here so he could come back and leave an offering and a prayer before we went to head out on the trail." Hakkaku commented idly from beside her after the door had closed; cutting them off from the other two males. "Lightning struck it," he told her, gesturing to the great gash in it's bark. "Tore it asunder a good twenty years or so ago; I'm not one for keeping up with such things. Praying before it has become a tradition for him, though one I doubt he'll continue."

"Why would he do such a thing? I never knew him to pray to the gods."

The male shrugged, setting her bag in her arms delicately, though his eyes twinkled with amusement and a smile had curled up his lips. "It's said that praying to the spirits of your loved ones brings luck with such things."

And with that he was leaving her to her thoughts, disappearing inside the cabin.

**************************************************************Note: So, my message yesterday was written in annoyance, and I'd never actually just stop updating something I've chapters already written for. I'm up to about 30 in my reserves for this, so where as I'm not currently working on it, there will be updates for everyone for a while.  
**


	14. What ends begins again

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**What ends begins again**

Kagome thought that her musings of Kouga would distract her from enjoying the feeling of trekking through the woods again, for the first time in too long of a time.

But surprisingly, she felt light. She felt almost... free, as she kept pace with the wolves who still remembered her name, even after centuries of years she couldn't begin to fathom.

And her thoughts of him mingled with the startling remembrance that had seemed to settle over her, even after having not stepped foot in a forest for nearly a decade for trying to stave off the memories.

Images of her erstwhile suitor, laughing as he bounded across valleys weaved together with the feeling of comfort that came with his walking calmly by her side, looking as every bit the great and dangerously ancient _Youkai_ she knew he was beneath the rangers uniform, and highlighting the fact that it had been so very much longer for him.

And the realization spurred her into speech.

"You _remember_ me." She stated into the half-silence; breaking the quiet sounds of the forest with her voice.

He didn't miss her meaning, eyes dropping so that he could level her with his gaze. "What did you expect me to do, Kagome? I could hardly forget you."

He offered nothing more than that, leaving her with a lopsided, companionable smile, and her thoughts in a jumbled mess of chaos.

Leaving her to wonder if what ends really does begin again.

**************************************************************Note: Sorry that I've been so busy off-line.  
**


	15. Raven-Flanked

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Raven-Flanked**

"So do you really think this trip will be as dangerous as you were making it out to be, or was it that dangerous for a regular Miko?" Kagome asked, shouldering her bag up higher and looking at Kouga questioningly.

It wasn't him that answered her though, the twins cutting in before he'd the opportunity.

"Yes and no."

"You see,"

"You cant go around all willy-nilly killing demons anymore,"

"As fun as it used to be,"

"Because when we go missing,"

"People go investigating,"

"Just like if you did."

"So we have to be careful,"

"And you can't go off all pink and purifying."

"I thought you were all under the radar out here." Kagome pointed out, smiling at the effortless way they finished each others sentences.

Kouga sighed, lifted one clawed hand to silence them before they went into another explanation. "We are, but Youkai have their own laws that you happen to be included in; being a Miko doesn't exempt you, -on the contrary rather."

She frowned slightly. "The Sunset Shrine cares for everyone; demon and human alike, though I was aware the former only came if there was no option left. It's frustrating, trying to prove myself again to everyone. In the Sengoku, I'd finally managed to convince everyone that I meant harm to _no-one_, when the jewel threw me back. And ever since I've been trying to do it all over again."

Kouga placed one clawed on her head in a habitual gesture of acceptance, his tanned skin looking so very right against her dark hair. "We know that, but the rest of the world doesn't remember you like we do."

**************************************************************Note: ************For _Lyrainthedark_, for listening to me grossly sob about all these feelings I have for Korean horror movies. **  



	16. To Sparkle Like Running Water

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**To Sparkle Like Running Water**

"Why would they think me dangerous though?" she pressed. "I'm coming to harvest plants that help _them;_ I would think that to be a nice little olive branch of peace."

"Its not as if our laws forbidding Miko from our lands has anything to do with you in particular, little sister." Ginta informed her, weaving fingers in between her own.

"There was at once point a time when Miko made it their mission to wipe us out in our entirety," Hakkaku continued, walking backwards on the trail so he could smile at her.

"So Miko are forbidden on pain of death,"

"Because this is where all our pups are born, and demons who cannot take human form rear their young."

"Maybe I could _make_ them remember me." she mumbled, more to herself than to them, forgetting they could hear her just as if she where talking normally. It was _such_ a temptation to just release a wave of power to roll over the land and let all of it's residence know of just who walked among them. "There's not been a Miko as powerful as me since Midoriko, after all."

"Oh please don't do anything like that, Little sister,"

"You'd just frighten them all,"

"And we'd have even more work to do protecting you,"

"And Kouga would get so much more shit from the elders than he's already going to."

"Then what can I do?" she nearly wailed, the words sounding as over-dramatic as they felt. " 'Little Sister' is feeling overwhelmed over here."

Before the twins could say anything about her fit of displeasure, Kouga's hand that had been resting on top of her head moved so he could wrap his arm around her neck and drag her close to him with the crook of his elbow, pressing a soft kiss to her brow before releasing her to walk in front of them all, growling as he did. "Stop calling yourself that or I'm going to start believing you mean it."

**************************************************************Note: ************Mmm: Updates. Tastes like verbiage. Smells like late-night writing. **  



	17. Sanguine

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Sanguine**

Kagome was quiet for a long while as they hiked, willing her sanguine complexion to abate as she thought about everything Hakkaku and Ginta had told her, along with Kouga's mysterious reaction to her use of their nickname for her.

The boys were all nice enough not to comment on her ruddy cheeks though, thankfully, even as Hakkaku took Kouga's recently vacated place at her side to take her other hand. She almost felt as if she where traveling in the past again, if just for a moment.

And the past was where she could find herself okay with the mystery of her erstwhile suitors actions; knowing that it would come up eventually, though she had an inkling of a suspicion that she was more important to all of it that she really knew.

"You mentioned Kouga being in trouble with your elders," she began quietly, though even with out Inuyasha's twitching ears, she knew that her subject of conversation heard her. "What did you mean by that?"

"Oh!" Ginta began, leaning forward slightly so that he was looking back at her. "Why, our old wolf is quite the troublemaker!" he announced proudly.

"Our Little Sister or not,"

"Even though that make you _their_ older sister,"

"Miko aren't allowed here,"

"Let alone under our direct protection."

"But even without knowing it was _you_,"

"He makes all sorts of exceptions for the descendants of the Sunset Shrine,"

"Only humans we abide anymore really." Hakkaku pointed out.

Kagome blinked languidly at that, pinning the Wolf Alphas back with her gaze, and she knew he could feel her eyes leveling on him curiously. "Why's that?"

"Oh, that you'll have to ask him yourself." Hakkaku told her wolfishly, laughter in his voice.

**************************************************************Note: Ello Ello! I came home from festival early this weekend and wrote a bit, so I wanted to use this time to say thank you to _chika1345_**


	18. Gravel

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Gravel**

Kagome had a bit of a fascination with the sounds of nature, the birds twilling in the trees around them completely unperturbed by their passing, the crunch of loose gravel beneath their feet, the whistling of the wind though the trees in the fading light. It was peaceful, almost too much so with her escorts warnings.

"This is a good spot." Kouga finally declared with authority, pulling off his pack where he stood to set it on the ground. "We'll camp here for the night. Hakkaku, you're in charge of firewood. Ginta, you set up her tent."

His pack-mates immediately moved to do as he'd ordered without question, and Kagome found herself moving to stand beside him as he unpacked all the bedrolls to lay beside her designated tent. "So you boys are sleeping under the stars, and I get overhead protection?"

"That's the plan," he commented idly. "Unless it rains. Then we all get to huddle together in your tiny little tent until the storm passes."

She scrunched her nose playfully. "Ew, wet dog smell."

He snorted in reply, though a smirk turned up the corner of his mouth when he finally turned back to her, leaning in close so that they where nose to nose. "Wolf, woman. I'm a wolf."

"Going to eat me up then like little red riding hood?"

If it was at all possible, his smirk grew. "If you ask really nicely, Kagome, that's not all I'll do."

There were shocked gasps from behind them, drawing attention from the male before her and allowing that pesky blush to rise on her cheeks again as if she was a high-school-er again.

"You've got him joking!"

"Playing!"

"The pack will howl in celebration!"

Kagome looked dumfounded, and Kouga was back to scowling at them all. "What?"

**************************************************************Note: ************Hey everyone! I'm SO SO SO sorry I've not been updating as regularly as you are used to. Really I am. I've been out every single weekend from Friday to Sunday night working at a Renaissance festival, (though this weekend, I'll be going to visit the AMAZING**_********__Cadeyrn Lux_**********for************ four days) and the rest of the time I'm babysitting my niece and getting ready for my impending move (I know, I know; I move every 6 months) to Denver to live with the equally as amazing and glorious**_********__Miss Selah_. 


	19. Sentimental

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Sentimental**

Kagome eyed them all for a long moment before pointing very sternly at Hakkaku. "Help Ginta with camp; Kouga and I will gather the firewood."

The boys snapped to do as she told them but Kouga moved as if to contradict her before she pinned him with a look that just dared him to try, and he sighed in acceptance; waving for her to follow him off into the trees.

"You've got questions." he acknowledged once they where finally out of earshot of the camp.

"I _want_ to ask about Inuyasha and Shippo and all the rest," she admitted softly, allowing herself the sentiment for a moment, before leaning down to grab a few sticks. "But I _need_ to know what's going on _here_. Hakkaku and Ginta keep laying down some heavy hinting at _something_, but it would just be so much easier if you were the one to tell me what in the world is going on."

Her companion sighed. "They _think_ they're helping." He grumbled. "I swear I'd put them in their places if they'd not been my litter-mates."

"You're avoiding." she pointed out good-naturedly.

He paused for a moment, dragging one clawed hand across his face. "I missed you." he admitted. "You were -_are_- pack, whether you acknowledged it or not."

"So why do you get snarly when I call myself 'little sister'."

"It doesn't mean pack." He told her, and she was sure that for a moment she saw a rutty tinge to his cheeks, a shade darker than his complexion.

The words where barely above a whisper, but she knew he heard them. "What does it mean then?"

"It means _mine_." he admitted, cringing. "_Little Sister_ means you were to be my future mate."

**************************************************************Note: __************************Note: ************************So I just watched 'Oblivion'; the new Tom Cruise movie. I didn't have high hopes for it going in, but I swear this movie just broke my feels. I can't. I just can't. I have lost all ability to CAN. So I'm attempting to get one of my girls in to write with me while I'm having all these emotions.**


	20. Stone

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Stone**

Kagome cringed at that admission as well. "Oh dear. You're wife, or mate, or... _whatever_ won't be pleased to hear people calling me that."

Kouga picked up a stone and flung it into the trees; and she couldn't tell if it are out of frustration or not. "I've not got one, Kagome. _That_ would be why they're doing it."

"What?"

He made some unintelligible noise of frustration. "I never took a mate." he enunciated slowly through clenched teeth. "Wolves only mate _once_, Kagome. It's for life." he picked up another stone and flung it in the same direction as the last. "They're trying to get us to pick up where we left off."

Kagome stared at him for a long moment as if he was a rather interesting bug that had caught her eye. "This has something to do with me." she announced, though almost warily. "I don't know how or why, but you're not telling me something, Kouga. I know it's been a lot longer for you than It has for me, but they're hinting at something much bigger than you being single and you know it."

"It was you, alright?" he finally snapped, turning so he could stalk toward her. "It was always you. I'd chosen you then, and I'd still choose you now; don't you see? I never took a mate because _you_, little Miko, were who I wanted, and you _died_. Wolves only ever take one mate, and I _mourned_ you. They are interfering because it is to be you or no-one. They think this to be fate- a second chance."

**************************************************************Note: ************************************Hey guys! Sorry for the couple of day's lull in updates. I'M ON VACATION! I'm currently sitting at my old high-school best friend/ fellow fan-fiction author, _Cadeyrn Lux_'s, kitchen table updating this before we really get into writing together tonight.**


	21. Gather

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Gather**

Kagome just blinked up at him, trying to internalize that, and he allowed her the much needed moment.

_You must do whatever your Little Sister asks of you. _Two voices chorused from the back of her mind.

Hakkaku standing with her at the base of the sacred tree. _I__t's said that praying to the spirits of your loved ones brings luck..._

Kouga turning those bright blue eyes to her, looking down to meet her gaze. _What did you expect me to do, Kagome? I could hardly forget you._

Him pulling her close to place a chaste kiss to her forehead, look as if such an odd mixture of gruff, embarrassed, pleased, and anciently sorrowful. _Stop calling yourself that or I'm going to start believing you mean it._

_He makes all sorts of exceptions for the descendants of the Sunset Shrine. _One spoke before the other took up the ending of his sentence; sounding as mischievous as the looked. _Only humans we abide anymore really._

_It means mine. Little Sister means you where to be my future mate, and so, their sister; pack-mate._

_It was you, alright? It was always you. I'd chosen you then, and I'd still choose you now; don't you see? I never took a mate because you, little Miko, were who I wanted, and you died. Wolves only ever take one mate, and I mourned you. They are interfering because it is to be you or no-one. They think this to be fate- a second chance. _

Kagome gathered her courage then. "Maybe it is." She finally told him, voice soft.

"What?" he returned, obviously startled.

"Us meeting again." she clarified. "Maybe it _is_ fate. I'm not going to make you any sort of promise, Kouga; it's been a long time -for the both of us. But maybe it is fate; and after that adventure? I can roll with a lot of unlikely things, so this isn't very far up on the list of farfetched." Kagome shrugged then, offering him a smiled that spoke of just how much she remember him. "You always were rather dashing."

He looked like he wanted to pull his tail between his legs. "I was a rash cub. I can do _so_ much better now."

"Okay. Prove it then."

**************************************************************Note: ************************************************So I'm totally sitting in starbucks in a really expensive dress reblogging shit on tumblr with _Cadeyrn Lux_. This is currently a thing. **


	22. Socks

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Socks**

He didn't. Instead he shook his head and led her back to camp, the only words he offered being: "Not tonight. If I'm to do this, I'll be doing it right."

So naturally, Kagome found herself intrigued. "And what's your definition of 'right'?"

The wolf at her side shrugged, brushing his long pony-tail over his shoulder with a flick of one clawed hand. "Properly then."

"Properly _how_?" She pressed, stopping and using his arm as support while she toed her sneaker off to get a stone out of her sock.

"I'm going to court you like you deserve." he answered simply. "In the traditional way of my people."

Her head snapped up to look at him then, eyes narrowing as she pulled her shoe back on. "I don't know canines in specific, but I know _Youkai_. You are _not_ bringing me dead things."

Kouga merely grinned in reply, and the action looked down right wolfish.

**************************************************************Note: ************************************************So I just got home from vacation, and I'm really sad, and I'm missing _Cadeyrn Lux _already and her adorable troll of a brother, and her epicly awesome big sister, and mom and dad, and all the chilling and laughing and basically... it just felt like I was back in highschool again and the night we went to prom together because it was just amazing and magic and so much fun and gah. I think I might cry; 4 days was just not enough.  
**


	23. Underwear

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Underwear**

"So I assume you're going to be a perfect gentleman then? No stealing my panties or sniffing my bum?" She asked slyly, fighting the urge to smirk at his glower.

"I'm not a _dog_." To his credit, he actually managed to sound mildly offended, and it set her off into a fit of giggles.

He watched her disapprovingly for a moment, before snorting. "I swear all of you just take this inane pleasure from undermining me as alpha." He told her mournfully. "Hakkaku and Ginta go against my orders at every turn, and you insult my honor as if I were a mere cub with no control and ill-breeding."

Kagome would have felt bad had he not been smiling through the entire tirade, showing the actual depth of his amusement and exasperation. The centuries having must have given him infinite patience.

"Oh come on, puppy," she told him jauntily. "You're setting you're self up for a long and arduous hunt; grow a funny bone."

That time he did look offended. "If you think myself so bad a suitor that I would leave my chosen lady unmated and so thoroughly unmarked for anything longer than the end of this trip, then you've another thing coming, Kagome."

She arched a brow in disbelief at that. "A week? Someone's rather full of himself if he thinks he can win my hand in a mere week."

"_Less_ than a week, my little Miko. And you can put money on it.

**************************************************************Note: I'm updating ****from the ****relative comfort of my bed, given ****I'm on stric****t bed-rest for the next 48 hours, as per normal when one has just gotten out of surgery. I'm in horrible pain****, a****s they gave me three doses of anesthesia and stil****l couldn't ma****nage to get that area of my mouth numb enough; so i was in excruciating pain the ****entire time they where digging around in the****re. Vicodin is a glorious invention. **


	24. Shirt

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Shirt**

When the pair finally returned to camp, arms loaded with wood to stoke the already lit fire with, the twins had gotten set up in record time and were lounging about in t-shirts and a pair of matching fur skirts she'd never thought to actually see again.

"Really guys, didn't those go out of style in the Feudal era when pants were invented?" She asked playfully, knowing the question wouldn't offend the pair in the slightest.

"Awe come on Little Sister," Hakkaku began, rolling onto his back so he could stretch out his legs.

"It's not often we get to let the pretense of being modern, sophisticated _Youkai_ drop,"

"And enjoy the little things from being a cub."

"Like wearing fur loin-clothes? How was that going to pass as a 'modern' garment in front of the regular Miko you thought was to be coming?"

"We didn't pack them." Ginta quipped.

"We make them."

"With our _Youki_."

"Wait." she paused, looking at them curiously. "So you can, like, _summon_ fur?"

Kouga snorted from behind her. "We are immortal, magical creatures who can transform into actual wolves and you think the weirdest part of this is that we can summon clothing?"

**************************************************************Note********: Congr****adulati****ons to _chika1345_ for getting her degree last night; This one is just for you, you beautiful person you! And a shout out to _Cadeyrn Lux_ for lining up a couple of interviews for a second job!**


	25. Bustier

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Bustier**

Kagome settled in in front of the fire, curling up in her sleeping bag with her head out of the front flap of her tent so she could still be a part of the happenings rather than separate from the boys.

"You're not sleeping in all that are you, Little Sister?" Ginta asked, looking at her curiously that she was still wearing her jeans and long-sleeved shirt.

"Come on,"

"We can protect you if you want to be more comfortable,"

"I promise you'll never have to run around in your pajamas,"

Kagome opened her mouth to protest, but they just talked over her, somehow finding the pink stain on her cheeks to be amusing.

"And it's not as if we of all people care about partial nudity," Hakkaku pointed out, motioning to his fur skirt, and she closed her eyes in reply, exasperation evident.

"We sleep in puppy piles most of the time after all ."

"Though," One paused, ponderously; she didn't bother looking to see which.

"If you're wearing a Bustier or something,"

"We'll have to ask you to take it off."

Her head shot up at that, startled and eyes snapping open to look at them as if they'd grown second heads.

"I'm not going to-" they cut her off then, clarifying.

"Just so our Old Wolf doesn't bite us or anything."

Kouga's hand came out of nowhere then, zipping her tent up before she could protest. "Good _night_. The lot of you." The command was evident in his voice, and his tone brooked no argument.

**************************************************************Note********:******** So it's 3:15am here, I have discovered that both yawning and laughing hurt, -such actions can and will bring tears to my eyes-, and I've no idea why my air conditioner isn't working in the Texas heat. Why is it 80 degrees Fahrenheit, (26.6 degrees Celsius) at 3am? Can someone answer me that? My cat wants to be cuddly but I'm dieing over here.  
**


	26. Wimple

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Wimple**

Kagome sighed and rolled over again. It wasn't the feeling of the slick fabric of her sleeping bag, nor was it the hard ground beneath her that was keeping her awake; these were things in which she was intimately acquainted.

No, it was the tent that hid the stars from her sight and night breeze from her flesh. It was a thoughtful gesture for anyone else, but Kagome needed the closeness and connection that came with sleeping beside others. And _with_ it, she couldn't have been more separated from the men who were all at once bright and shiny and new and specters from her past was she wearing a wimple and habit.

So she did what any perfectly impractical woman would have done; she gathered up her bedding, unzipped herself from the tent, and marched right up to the pile of wolf Youkai to throw her sleeping bag down right beside them and crawl back inside it.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed; because in the next moment, it pile shifted to envelop her; moving so that they surrounded her in a sort of lazy, lopsided circle that overlapped her in many places, let alone what she couldn't see with her eyes so blissfully closed. Someones nose was in the crook of her neck, along with their arm thrown ever so casually over her own, and someone's torso made a warm pillow while someone else's nose took up residence of the space beside her stomach, as she could feel the slow to and fro of their breath.

For the first time in a long time, Kagome felt completely at peace, and so effortlessly fell into sleep.

**************************************************************Note********: Oh look****! A chapter for you lovel****ies! I'm currently very carefully chewing some cherrios because soft-foods diet be damned; if I have to have one more bowl of mashed potato's I'm going to murder something. Though I am dreading brushing my teeth before bed tonight, as opening my jaw that wide still hurts like the dickens. Not enough to medicate for it, but enough to feel like Satan's sticking his fiery-hot tongue into my incision. So there's that.  
**


	27. Strawberries

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Strawberries**

When Kagome awoke, it was to the smell of strawberries, and to the feeling of being _unpleasantly_ hot. And it was due to the fact her living barricade had at some point in the night decided to become blankets and cuddle as close as they could.

She groaned, pushing at the solid masses of fur and muscle, trying to roll over, only to find herself with her nose pressed into one pompous wolf-alpha's chest, where he proceeded to wrap himself around her as much as he could, and the twins then scooted in closer to fill the space she'd vacated.

She didn't know how they did it with the fact they actually had fur beneath their skin, and even without it she was sweating.

"It's hot." she mumbled sleepily, elbowing someone's nose, and kicking another in what she was going to assume was a shin, drawing soft yelps in reply, and laughter from the only one who hadn't incurred her wrath; mainly since his large body was restricting her movement somewhat.

"I'm assuming this mean's we get to feed her now." Kouga's voice grumbled from overhead, sounding sleep rough and rumbling. "Who want's to get up and cook that boar?"

"What?" she mumbled groggily, trying to free her arms enough to rub her eyes. "What boar?"

"The one we caught at about dawn while you were still purring like a kitten."

Her eyes finally cracked open to slits. "I thought I told you not to bring me dead things."

He just laughed, soft and puffing right against her ear, the action more of a vibration in his chest than an actual voicing of his amusement, as if just meant for her ears, and the sound almost made her shiver.

**************************************************************Note********: Sorry for the late update****, I ****accidentally slept in. Badly. It's 4 in the afternoon, when I should have been up at 11am. -_- which is lovely. If nothing else, I'm well rested? Though getting up at 7am tomorrow to get to work is going to be murder.  
**


	28. Hair

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Hair**

Their entire camp looked bedraggled as they went about preparing a very Feudal Era breakfast, the likes of which she'd not had in almost a decade.

And she discovered in a somewhat startling turn of events, that wolves took their grooming rather seriously. Kouga was patiently sitting while Ginta finger-combed his long hair, before pulling it back into his customary topknot.

But then he beckoned to her with one clawed finger, crooking it toward him in a 'come hither' gesture when she arched a brow in response, pinning her with those bright blue eyes. "Come now little Miko, where's your bravery now? It's just a bit of hair brushing." he taunted.

And so steeling herself, Kagome rose to his bait, walking toward him before setting herself down between Kouga's legs. And he gave her no opportunity for her to change her mind before his hands settled against her hair and he ran gentle claws though her locks, slowly untangling the knots with ardent care.

She relaxed into the feeling, and she knew they were pleased at her response; Hakkaku coming toward her with a plate of boar meat and strawberries for her breakfast with a dizzying smile on his face.

**************************************************************Note********: I've had 5 hours sleep in the last ****40 or so. I**** don't know anymore, all I know is that I'm about to hit a breakthrough on one of my novels, If I can just figure out this out. It occurs to me how ridiculous this all sounds: I'm writing a prophetic poem in which a Goblin is taunting with hints of, and it's got to fit the rhythm; which is 6-7-9/6-7-8, and the line is: "a veil to guise and _ eyes" it's got to be a 1 syllable word, and I'm describing a nun. It makes since in the novel itself, but not so much out of context.  
**


	29. Good Company

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Good Company**

As odd as the situation she found herself in was, Kagome found herself enjoying the good company that came with it; breakfast and the subsequent packing of camp being shockingly reminiscent of her past; almost so much so that she had to remind herself that she was not to turn around to a disgruntled Hanyo at any moment.

And her nostalgic mood didn't go unnoticed.

"You're wondering about the past, aren't you?" Her blue-eyed wolf asked kindly, keeping with her slow pace as his two pack-mates scouted ahead; itching for a run in the early morning light. He watched them as they joyfully bounded around the bend, but held himself back so that he could walk by her side.

"Of course I am." She acknowledged, shouldering her bag higher on her back. "It's been so long since I've done anything like this, and yet it feels like it was almost yesterday. I'm expecting Inuyasha to just jump out of the trees with Shippo and Miroku at his heals, Sango threatening all of them with her boomerang."

"Would you like to know of them?" he asked, almost hesitantly, as if waiting for her tears to flow at the mention of their fates.

"I would." came her whispered reply. "But I have to wonder if I _should_ know those answers."

"You should. You deserve that much of me." Clawed fingers found hers, weaving between her own effortlessly to lock their hands together in a gesture of comfort. "I'm afraid I never kept track of them, but there is a song that carried on the winds, that spoke of you and your band."

"Sing it to me?"

So he did, his low tenor rumbling though the morning breeze, and her head fell against his shoulder at the sound of it; allowing the words to sooth a soul-ache she'd thought had healed over years before.

**************************************************************Note********: I am a ****giant ball of disgruntlement. I am not a pleasant person to be ar****ound right now, and i feel sorry for those who continue to message me becasue I'm just going to be a snappy bitch regardless; I'm not mad at you, I'm mad in general. I really just need to take today for myself and be left alone.  
**


	30. Perfect

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Perfect**

"Kouga!" The twins called in unison, waving and jumping up and down from up atop the hill, jostling for attention.

"What?" He called back in reply, a hand cupped to his mouth to help his voice carry though the effort wasn't necessary.

"We found something on Little Sister's list!" Hakkaku exclaimed, pushing his brother.

A clawed hand pulled on his companions Mohawk."We think!"

Kouga sighed in exasperation as their rough-housing proceeded to warp into a wrestling match in the dirt. "Like a couple of puppies." He muttered, much to her amusement. "Which one is it?"

Ginta managed to get his brother in a headlock long enough to partially answer. "It's not the Thousand Year Flower,"

But it wasn't to be for long, because his brother knocked him sideways. "But its that little blue thingy!"

"That's perfect!" Kagome called out to them. "Such good boys you are!"

They preened in response.

**************************************************************Note********: Mmmm, a marat****hon of Black Butler, P****irate of the Caribbean, and the inability to actually sleep.  
**


	31. Long Lost Love

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Long Lost Love**

Kouga watched in fascination while Kagome crouched low with his pack-mates, their tails swishing in interest as she told them about the plant they where viewing; how to pick it and what uses it held.

It felt strange to be be in her presence after so long; almost too long. He remembered when she had disappeared from the world. _Vividly_.

The shock that came with the suddenness of it.

The bittersweet waiting in her human village with the forlorn hope for her return.

The quiet knowledge that she was, indeed, gone from his grasp. He'd waited for her even then, though, longer than he should have, but he had.

The sharp ache of his mourning that slowly dulled into acceptance and routine.

And yet, after he'd long forgotten the vividness of _her,_ -her smile, her laughter, her scent- leaving him with but a faded memory of a long lost love who'd left this world unfathomable years and countless centuries before, -she was back.

Older, but almost untouched by the ages. She was still the same girl he's claimed as his so long ago -if not quieter. If not more mature.

And he wasn't sure of anything -besides his instincts clamoring to bind her to him before time could snatch her away. And that she had made a promise that was not a promise, and more of a challenge. She had acknowledged that fate was playing for them a hand, and he was not to lose her this time.

Kouga leaned down then, his chin coming to rest on her shoulder. "It makes my nose itch; why would you want to keep something like that around?"

"Because mortal's don't have your sensitive nose, and we use it for aroma therapy."

**************************************************************Note********: ********************Alright, there might not be an update tomorrow, which has nothing to do with you guys or the story itself -you're all awesome and I love you. I just have my last surgery at 10am, and so am not going to be very fully functioning for a bit. **


	32. Hope in the Hallow Land

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Hope in the Hallow Land **

Kagome hummed to herself as she pulled a heavy book out of her bag, setting it open on the ground before turning back to the flowering plant with small gardening sheers in her hands. Cutting the best looking blossoms to place onto the pages of the book.

Ginta leaned closer to watch what she was doing."You're going to press them, Little Sister?"

"Yes." She replied with pride in her voice. "The petals, once pressed, actually smell better than when you dry them, as these have a tendency to mold if you aren't careful; too much moisture in the plant itself."

"So normally you'd dry a plant if you wanted to keep a smell then?" Hakkaku asked, as if clarifying.

"That's right." she confirmed. "The buds, like these, you can dry by just laying them out on a flat surface in the sunlight, if you leave a bit of space between them. But if you want to dry a big section of the plant itself, it works best if you hang it upside down."

"So are you going to teach us about how to do all of this or something?"

She shrugged. "Someone here had got to know; we don't have anymore male members of my family that could venture out here like grandpa used to."

"Or you could do it; you're the Shikon no Miko, after all, and our Little Sister." And there was hope in their eyes.

**************************************************************Note********: ************I am currently in excruciating pain, given my final surgery did not go quickly, nor did it go easily. The last few times when they had to cut in and dig out the teeth, it lasted about 15 minutes, tops. This time I was in the chair more than an hour as they fought to get it out, and like the last time, for some reason I wasn't responding to the anesthesia, and so could _feel_ what was happening. Sleeping is hard; eating almost impossible. I'm a big ball of disgruntlement right now.**


	33. Weekend

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Weekend**

The boys didn't press her for an answer, and for that she was thankful. Because Kagome Higurashi, as much as she missed the wilds of feudal japan, had no idea if she could really leave the Shrine or not. She knew, deep down she _knew,_ that Kouga would follow her to the ends of he earth if she asked him to, and yet she was torn.

Because this was his pack; his home. And each had their respective responsibilities.

"Stop thinking so much." Kouga murmured, knocking his head against hers as they trekked through the woods.

"I can't help it." She whispered back, sighing when he rubbed his jaw across the top of her head.

He paused in his steps then, looking her over with narrowed eyes for a moment so long it felt as if she'd been rooted to the same spot for days rather than seconds, before he opened his arms to her. "Come on."

"Wha-?" Kagome started, but before she could continue the thought, he'd swept her up into his arms, carrying her cradled there against his chest.

"You're worrying about things you've no need to worry about." he told her softly, cryptically, "So I'm going to help you to take your mind off of it by taking an exciting run; guaranteed to make you laugh and screech like you always used to."

"But you don't even know what it was I was worrying about!" she cried in reply.

"Yes I do; you were thinking of Ginta and Hakkaku's invitation." he quipped lightly, and the look on her face was telling, pulling a sigh from his throat in return.

"If you're so sure I don't need to be worrying about it, explain to my why."

"Because this is not the only land the pack owns." he told her meaningfully, beginning to walk again, and his stride so very soothing. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the other two wolves circling them in wide arks, paroling the spaces around them while giving the illusion of privacy.

"What do you mean?"

"I _mean_, That quite a few of the buildings that circle your pretty little Shrine belong to us. I made sure of it, even as the land was being developed." he told her lightly, almost casually, though there was a hard edge to his tone, almost as if he was daring her to dispute him. "You were -_are_ pack, and so we took The Sunset Shrine under our protection. Never interfering, but the shadow to keep your family safe. Your family's _Youkai_ liaison in more ways than just _here_."

Her mouth worked silently for a moment, before a curious expression took up residence of her face, slowly curling into a rueful smile. "I think I'm ready to be impressed by your speed now, puppy."

Her screams didn't disappoint.

**************************************************************Note********: ************************I got a hold of my dentist today. He told me he wasn't at all surprised I was in excruciating pain still; there was extensive trauma in trying to remove this tooth. Which, _obviously_; they had to break out the drill at one point because this tooth was so tight against the bottom of another that they where locked together. Pretty much he just told me there's nothing to be done for it besides ride it out, and up my dosage of Vicodin. This is going to be a hell of a week.**


	34. Spring Charm

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Spring Charm**

The forest was so peaceful, delighting in it's spring bloom, that Kagome had almost believed that Kouga and his pack were worrying for not. That his warnings of the dangers she faced were just baseless fears. That her being who she was somehow changed the rules, because she was _never_ just some ordinary Miko.

But then, things never worked out quite how she wanted them to. And she very much wasn't expecting drove of what appeared to be boars -though she knew _much_ better than _that-_, to come charging out of the treeline at them, sending the small party scattering as the great beasts, standing taller on their haunches than even the tallest of her wolven companions, came trampling through their camp. Sharp hooves ripping through their sleeping bags as if nothing more than the soil beneath them, and great tusks swinging in wide archs through the air and crashing into the trees around them, booming loud as thunder in the twilight.

She made a run for it into the trees, unsure if she followed the path of one of the wolves or something else, but knowing she needed to escape as the boars came pouring out of seemingly nowhere; their numbers easily overtaking that what Kouga, Hakkaku, and Ginta could handle.

She faintly heard someone calling her name, but it was drowned out by the deafening sound of pounding hooves, gaining on her steps, and a louder cry that started out as a whisper, and grew into a chant, before ringing through the forest like a battle-cry. "Kill the Miko! Trample her beneath your hooves!"

And with that she was flying though the air, leaping from the top of a jutting outcrop of rock toward the dark waters below. And as she sailed, she heard the sound of hooves trying to regain their footing amongst the rocks, a loud squeal, and the white-hot sensation of something slashing across her lower back, before everything went dark. And she was suddenly submersed in cold water.

**************************************************************Note********: ************************************Note: 72 hours after surgery and I still can barely open my mouth to even speak, and the pain can still be overwhelming at times. There is no way I'm going to be able to follow through on my weekend plans, which kills me, as this is the last possible weekend for me to go. But I just can't. The dentist prescribed me some medication for it, but even with it; I'm only sleeping in 2 hour intervals and I can't really even eat. **


	35. Dream World

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Dream World **

Kagome knew she was asleep; it was not a hard assumption to make. Not when she'd seen this place before -all pink and shining about it's edges.

This was the half-world she had traversed with the jewel in her final moments in the past. This was where the parts of her that were Kikyo and Midoriko rested.

Sounds and scents and sensations permeated this dream world, altering it's shape so very drastically in the span of moments that could have only been hours long as she walked, traversing the space as if a curious child would; walking along steps they only remembered in nostalgic flashes of deja vu in the night.

Voices and sharp, digging pain that ebbed and flowed through her in turbulent waves. Hot and cold and back again as the feeling of hands jostled her this way and that though she was not fully aware of them as she traveled; searching for a place to sit down and rest. But the feeling was calling her up higher and higher until her half-world was fading at the edges, and the feelings of reality slowly became sharper under they mingled together into this strange cacophony of real and make believe who's edges she could not unravel from one another.

All kagome could be sure of, was distantly, there was the sound of a woman's voice; soft as it sang to her an absent minded tune, drawing her back to herself.

**************************************************************Note********:************ Mmmm. I am so very, very tired and it's so very, very hard to sleep. But I make fabulous soy based, gluten&lactose-free protein pancakes. **


	36. Empty Catharsis

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Empty Catharsis **

When Kagome finally managed to open her eyes to the soft light of dawn, she did not know where she was. Resting on a soft bed of moss and leaves, with pots of herbs scattered about the space around her, and sweet-smelling incense leaving trails of smoke to hang about her face and make the air musty and thick.

She was in the forest still, of that she could be certain, but her clothes were as dry as when she'd put them on -odd, in the face of the fact she'd so recently taken an unwanted dip in the chilled waters of the river-, and the trees all leaned close in the dappled light that kissed at her cheeks with leaves that barely brushed her flesh in the breeze, as if waiting to hear the hushed mumblings of her sleep.

A soft, feminine voice filtered through the trees toward her then, sounding soothing in it's ominous warning. "I was waiting for you to cry out once more in your sleep; a pity I could not rid of you of your head to silence you. Tell me, _Miko_: Why is it that you call out for The Ookami-Heika in your sleep? Why do you whisper the names of the long dead as if they are dear friends rather than legend and myth? Speak quickly, mortal, less your answer be the last words you ever utter."

Kagome turned her head toward the voice, blinking languidly though she could not see her companion. Strangely enough, Kagome felt no fear at the threat, or the idea of laying so helplessly within a predators grasp; she'd danced along the edges of fate before and she'd slipped through the veil of death enough times to accept the idea of departing into that forever world of pinks and power with little hesitation. "Because I am a legend that the world should never have forgotten."

**************************************************************Note********:************ I apologize for not getting a chapter posted yesterday; I had to be taken to the ER so I wasn't in any fit shape to be doing anything beyond sleeping once I was discharged. Now if you all would excuse me: I just awoke from a 12 hour nap, and feel as if I need another one.**


	37. Blistered Star

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Blistered Star**

"You are a mere mortal." The voice snapped, sounding infinitely closer, and a breeze picked up the ends of her hair to let them dance in the air. "A young Miko barely out of her milk teeth. How would you know of such things that are before your time?"

Kagome snorted softly, closing her eyes and leaning her head back into the soft padding of moss she was laying upon. "Because I've never been _just_ another Miko. Always 'the'. Always feared, always revered. I've lived more lives than you could ever know, and I've walked through time."

"Tell me then," the voice whispered seductively against her hair, and she could feel the press of agonizingly sharp teeth against the shell of her ear. "Tell me _which_ Miko I have trapped in my roots."

Kagome gave a soft puff of laughter then, remembering so vividly how the title used to be one she answered to more than her own name, and yet now felt as if a dusty relic of a time long forgotten. "The _Shikon no Miko_."

The branches caressing her flesh pulled back so abruptly that Kagome couldn't help but open her eyes, and before her, -above her, around her,- was a woman with bark for skin. With eyes of bright, hardened, amber gems, and thin leafy twigs for fingers. "Oh my sweet little blistered star;" she cooed, infinitely softer now; the edge of malice forgotten in the look of sorrow that overtook her features. "How far you've fallen from the heavens."

**************************************************************Note********:************ Hi. Yeah. So. An update or something. Not really sure where all my readers went, on all of my stories, but whatever.  
**


	38. Wrong Night

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Wrong Night**

"You did so much for one so young; who would call you back from your peace in the ever-after to walk this world once more?" the enchanting woman asked her, face emerging from the very bark, and Kagome could only look up in wonder.

"Who are you to know of what I did?" She parried in reply. "I can think of a scant few sentient trees I encountered in my travels."

The woman laughed, and it was the wind whistling through the leaves to send them fluttering about. "No indeed. You never truly met me; I was just a sapling at the time of the end of your adventure." She rose up tall in her roots then, deep pride coloring her next words. "I was cut from the great _Bokusenō_, and he would tell to me stories of you and the jewel that you fought so hard for in the slow centuries it took for me to grow into such a mighty tree."

Kagome smiled slightly at that, testing her fingertips for strength in the soft moss, squeezing it as firmly as she could between the deft appendages that felt heavy and clumsy in the morning haze. "There never was an 'ever-after' for me." she replied finally, though fading images in the back of her mind that spoke to her of that pink space of the jewel flashed through to the forefront. "When the jewel and I winked out of existence, it merely returned me to my proper time. I've never gotten to rest."

The Tree's branches came forward then to caress her cheeks, soothing the strain from her body. "Why not rest here in my roots, then?" The wind whispered seductively to her, and the ground shifted beneath her almost unnoticeably, but brought to her attention with the throbbing burn it caused to her back. "Rest with me, here. Let my roots shield you from the world. Your soul is so old and so tired, quest-bearer; let me sing you to sleep."

It was a tantalizing offer. How often in the blurring years since the end of her adventure had Kagome wondered what it would be like to just sleep and never wake up again? How often had she gazed upon the well and wished once more to be with those she'd cared so deeply about. How often had she swallowed loneliness and bitter disappointment with her breakfast, only to have to do it again the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. In an endless blur of cynicism and defeat.

But then, she wasn't alone anymore, now was she? There was a pack of _Youkai_ that called her their Sister. There was a wolf that remembered her name. Both of them. And feared neither.

"I can't stay here." she told the tree, almost remorseful when she opened her eyes. "There is a wolf looking for me, and I shouldn't keep him waiting."

**************************************************************Note********:************ Thank you all so much for that show of support; I've been feeling kind of down lately with my fanfiction because I seems to get a fair decent number of reads, but no real feedback on anything. For instance, my_ Howl's Moving Castle_ story, __****The Quite Ordinary and Utterly Unremarkable Guide to Charming Glass**, has only been getting a review or so every other chapter, when upon it's start, I was getting 6 or 7. Which can be disheartening for a fan-fiction author. Yes, it can be annoying when you're only getting reviews that say 'great' or 'thanks' and other single word replies, but a lot of times, it's better than nothing; you actually know someone is enjoying what you're putting out.  



	39. Fresh Taste

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Fresh Taste**

The tree's roots had rose silently from their soil, making as if to wrap around her prone form, yet frozen like statues in the air at the opening of her eyes.

"_Stay_." the wind urged.

"No." She replied, forcing herself to sit up. And the roots recoiled from her, almost as if afraid of the young woman's touch, of the pink hue that flashed in warning around her. "My grave can wait another day to claim me; I still have work to do."

The woman leaned forward then, and Kagome could feel the sharp sting of bark grazing her back through her clothing. "But your quest is finished; you have served the world as you were meant. Sleep. Sleep here with me to protect you until the world has need of your soul again."

But Kagome was shaking her head before the tree had even finished speaking. "No, my job isn't done. It never was." She turned then to smile at the woman, grabbing hold of a branch to help herself to her feet, and the tree's roots came forward to help keep her vertical.

And at her curious look, Kagome continued on, looking triumphant at her slight victory, and yet so very weary. "The Jewel wouldn't have sent me home if my job had been completed; wouldn't have called me to the past at all. I still have more to do, even if I don't know what that is yet. So help me if you wish; I still have a long journey ahead of me and I don't know if I can do it on my own. Not hurt like this. You can't claim my resting place just yet, but you _can_ save my life."

**************************************************************Note********:************************ Sorry for my absence; I've been consumed with offline stress; I'm moving on the 26th, but I still have to finish this online class, take my tests, finish restoring the furniture I'm taking with me so I can USE it, get the new truck in my name, figure out how much of my shit I can load into it and how much it would cost to get a small trailer for the rest. That and dealing with my family member in extremely close quarters and generally making it hard for me to focus on anything.**  



	40. Chase Down The Moon

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Chase Down The Moon**

The tree sighed at that, bringing one branch-like hand up to trace her cheek as softly as a doting parent would. "If that is what you wish, world-weary Miko, then I shall not stop you. I am not the oldest thing in this forest, and many have heard you." She warned, though her tone was light, and a smile curled through the twisted bark that marked her face. "Some will come to your aid, and some will wish to hinder you; but I am merely a guardian of lost souls. There is only so much I can do to help those in need, and those powers extend no further than what I have already given you."

She gestured then toward the river to their side in a wide sweeping arch that sent her leaves into a noisy cacophony of movement. "Swim out into the river again; let it carry you as far as it wills, and when you emerge, you will be where you have need to be. If you are kind, If you are lucky, and if you are brave enough to ask him; the river may heal you."

Kagome turned to look at quickly moving waters with a thoughtful expression. "But that will take me further from the Wolf-alpha and his pack; and they are what I search for right now."

The tree laughed, and it was the wind whistling through the woods. "Worry not, Miko, your quest will not be lost. Return to your search for _flower_ that drew you to these lands; the wolf will follow." she smiled then, in a way that reminded her so very much of her mother. "After all, a wolf will chase down the moon even after she has stopped shining, and the father-sun has taken over the sky."

**************************************************************Note********:************************ My cat looks naked without his harness on, I just thought I should inform you all. And yes, before you all mention it; the Tree's words are very deliberate here, as is her message: Just becasue you meet a boy/girl/whatever-you're-interested-in doesn't mean that you should change yourself, or your goals for them. If they are worth it; they'll support you and come with you. I'm looking at you. You know who you are. **  



	41. Little Guardians

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Little Guardians**

Kagome turned back to the woman but for a moment before walking out into the cool water that lapped at her ankles. "Thank you for letting me go, rather than fighting to keep me."

The tree laughed mirthlessly at her words, ushering her with light urgings further into the sweeping waters that called her further into their depths. "You could never be kept for long; your soul shines too brightly for that. Each time your body has been laid to rest, your soul has risen again with some new quest to complete. Sometimes I cannot help but to wonder if your soul is working toward something so much more than mortality."

Kagome laid back in the water, holding herself in precarious place for a moment in the current as she thought about that, fish like little guardians swimming around her in lazy circles. Working toward something... more? What more was there? "And what do you mean by that?"

"Ascension, my world-weary Miko. I think your soul is on the path toward becoming something _more _than you or I will ever become."

She lost her footing then in the sandy river bed, and even as she tried to regain it the waters swept her away, and the words of the tree-woman where lost to her.

**************************************************************Note********: ********************Hey guys, Sorry about the delay. FFn was freaking out yesterday and for the life of me, I couldn't get my account page to load. It kept giving me timing out errors. -_- **


	42. Enchanted Glass

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Enchanted Glass **

The pull of the quickly moving current was irresistible; dragging her further and further from her refuge, and the last place she knew where her wolves to have been waiting for her. It was an almost claustrophobic feeling, to be surrounded by the sparkling waters she knew she could not escape should she have even wanted to. Looking like enchanted glass, and feeling like a prison.

But Kagome merely closed her eyes and let the water carry her along, relaxing into the cool feeling of the liquid tracing along the tender edges of her wound. Washing her flesh in the gentle way that flowing water does, and revealing the ache little by little.

"I know you can hear me." she told the fractured silence, though instead of seeming jarring, her voice came out lazily; as if it belonged floating down that river as the fish that swam around her. "I made a friend today, with a sentient tree who believed her purpose to be my final resting place. She let me go though; sent me to you so that I could continue my quest. I never knew there were spirits left in the world -real spirits. But I won't forget you in my prayers now, I just ask that you help me; I can't make this journey on my own."

It was then she heard a howling on the wind, an orchestra of woeful voices calling out that grew louder and louder, rising to a crescendo; searching. Searching for her. And she laughed, eyes finally opening to the sun as she tipped her head back to answer their call.

She could not capture the tone of her friends, or the woefulness of their notes that blended together so easily in a sound that no human throat could mimic, but she tried.

And when she turned to face the direction their voices where coming from, she could see them there, running along the cliff that buffeted her river. A pack of wolves, looking like shadows against the brightness of the day and their joy at finding their quarry punctuated by yips and jumps as they ran.

She waved before a sharp bend sent her spinning in another direction.

And the pack leader did not hesitate to leap from that cliff face and down into chilled waters to join her.

**************************************************************Note********: ********************Afternoon everyone! I hope you're having an amazing day. It's warm and bright here, if not overly humid, and I'm working on my Online Course, and writing for my OS. Hopefully once I've finished the last couple of chapters of it though (my course) I'll be able to knock out a few chapters of this and The Guide for you all.  
**


	43. The edges of time

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**The edges of time  
**

He swam toward her with determination, disappearing under the waves before reemerging, over and over again in the way a human form would have, rather than an animal. Revealing to her eyes just how massive a creature he was with each reemergence.

She knew this wolf was large -larger than any he ran with, but as he neared her, she was sure she could have rode upon his back as if he a steed. Great and fearsome, with fur as black as night and tipped along it's edges with shades of earthy browns; Coppers and tans that made it appear as if he where a rusted statue come to life rather than the ancient beast she knew him to be.

And as he sank under the water one last time, she felt the brush of silky, sodden fur against her toes, before his great form was come up from beneath her, lifting her further from the waves and onto his back.

He effortlessly maneuvered through the quickly moving water, gaining a speed that she had not been able to reach.

"Kouga, what's that up ahead?" The wolf did not answer her, and she did not believe he would, so she dug fingers tightly into his fur in an effort to hang on "It looks like a drop off."

He gave a sharp 'yip' in reply, and continued toward it with determination.

They where close enough to it now that she could see that is was an awfully long way down, and that his pack were awaiting him at the bottom, waiting with tails wagging for them to join their ranks. "Please tell me we are not going over that."

But in the next moment they where. She felt the thick muscles of his back legs tense and find a foothold against something on the river bottom as she closed her eyes. And they where being propelled out of the water and through the air over the waterfall as he took a great leap.

**************************************************************Note********: ********************Afternoon everyone! Today is housework day, sad to say. Though last night I finally managed to pass my online course so that is completely out of the way. So inbetween loads of laundry, I'm writing with _Lyrainthedark_, who has just recently started posting one of the most amazing Kagome/Kouga fanfictions I've read. Entitled: __****Quod Si Amor Vincit Omnia**, this is the story you've been looking and waiting for. Trust me. GO READ IT. Lyra is an amazing author, and one of my writing partners; she is usually involved somehow in everything that I begin to write.  



	44. Time to go back in Time Again

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Time to go back in Time Again**

Kagome had been expecting to be enveloped once more by the river, bracing herself for the impending wall of water that would overtake them, but that moment never came. Instead, she felt the hard, bone-rattleing impact of landing on solid ground, hard enough that she thought her teeth were going to rattle out of her skull.

He did not acknowledge the action upon landing though, turning instead to his wolves who were gathered, looking up at the girl on his back in a mixture of what appeared to be suspension and apprehension.

A few approached to smell warily of her legs, before retreating back to the safety of their number; the only remaining by her side a pair of dappled grey-black and white wolves she instantly recognized as Hakkaku and Ginta by the way their muzzles came up to lick at her hands and yip softly, tongues lolling out of the sides of their mouths when she scratched at their broad foreheads.

He bared his teeth in warning at the few that refused, snapping rather than come to great their alpha and his chosen, a snarl reverberating from his chest as he stood at his full height before them; towering over even the tallest of his companions. There were a few scattered in amongst their ranks that nearly rivaled his stature, but most appeared to be the size of mere wolves; something she had never considered before considered to be small. And one by one they all submitted to his will, backing away rather than challenging him over the danger she represented.

But a moment later, the tension in the pack was gone; his will was to be followed without further question, and she was almost sent tumbling from his back again when he began to shake the water out of his coat, saved only by her white-knuckled grip on his fur.

Kouga turned his head to her, an expression as close to a smirk as a muzzle could come plastered across his face as he took in her bedraggled appearance; looking as if a disgruntled cat that had just had a bucket of water thrown over it, woofing softly as if that had been fun rather than terrifying.

And Kagome felt as if she'd gone back in time again; seated atop a creature that time had lost, and the world had forgotten existed as he howled his success to the sky. Waiting until the distant sound of his kindred joined in his song, before turning to lead the pack home. His loping gait carrying her silently through places where mortals had not dared to tread in centuries. Worlds where gods and demons still resided and their silence broken only by the sounds of the pack as they made their way back to their den.

And so what did that make her; a Miko who had traveled through time saved them all, a mortal who'd bested gods and found an ally in one of the most powerful beings that still walked across this plain? Something a little bit less than Human, she suspected. Something a little bit more than real.

**************************************************************Note********: -yawns- I'm so**** tired. But there is writing to do. I'm hoping soon to inclu****de for you all a link to a chat room where me and a few of my other writing partners get together to work on our stories and host write night****s, ********so I hope that you join us in the fun once we do, And I'll be sure to post specific times we'll be there if anyone wants to pop in and say hello. So look out for that in the coming days.  
**


	45. The Restless

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**The Restless**

Kagome disliked the way her sodden clothes clung to her, making the wind that much more cutting; that much more cold against her flesh as the pack raced through underbrush. She knew Kouga could feel her shivers as she lowered herself to press into his damp fur, searching for the heat of his body, and he yipped something that sent a couple of his pack-mates splintering into another group that took off into the trees.

"Where are they going?" she asked, leaning down to speak directly into his ear, and he merely woofed in reply, lengthening his gait momentarily to leap sharply over a log.

And they continued this way for a while -probably less time than she thought as the minutes dragged on in her discomfort. She was used to being uncomfortable; that was a fairly good one-word summery of her entire existence in the warring states era, really. But it wasn't pleasant.

She didn't have to actually voice a complaint though, as soon enough, she heard the telling pounding of feet rather than paws gaining on the pack, before they disappeared for merely a moment, and she felt Kouga stumble beneath her and snarl ferociously, a warm hand coming about her waist as Ginta landed hard on Kouga's back behind her.

The great dark wolf slowed until his feet stood solidly on the ground, the pack stopping as well and scattering as they sniffed he area for anything that might have been considered a threat.

Ginta leapt to the ground then, grabbing her about the waist to swing her onto the grass at their feet.

"Sorry about that; he doesn't like to listen to other people when they tell him to slow down."

Kouga turned and snapped sharp teeth inches from his face, making Kagome rear back from the head that had fitted it's way between them, pressing her back into the fur of his side.

"Oh calm down, old wolf; I brought her something dry, as instructed." He laughed, holding up a large fur pelt; and the alpha just snorted and shook his fur out in disgruntlement.

"That'll just get wet with my clothes, though!" she cried in dismay.

"That's why you're going to strip." he replied matter-of-factly, holding the pelt out as if a shroud with Kouga's large body as a wall at her back. "I'll take all your wet clothes. _All_ of them Kagome, don't give me that look; you'll get sick and then he'll really kill all of us."

"I feel so naked though." she muttered as the last of her sodden clothing fell to the ground and Ginta rather gentlemanly wrapped her tightly in the pelt that looked to have some from something much bigger than a mere wolf.

He stepped back though as the restless alpha behind them took one look at the wound on her back and crouched low on the ground, growling to gather their attention so that she might climb back up upon his back.

"Someone's impatient."

Ginta just shook his head. "He's worried. He won't really feel like he's got you safe and secure until you're wrapped up to your ears in pelts in our den with the pack all around you."

**************************************************************Note********: Sorry for the del****ay guys! But I'm here, I'm writing, and I've ****got plenty of delicious plottings for you. Sme****lls like late n****ight plotting. ****Tastes like verbage. A huge thanks to _Lyrainthedark_, my glorious writing partner for helping me to decide what i was doing with need to check out her delicious writings if you haven't yet; it's worth this trip over to her profile.  
**


	46. The Wood is Where Silence has Lease

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**The Wood is Where Silence has Lease **

It felt odd to her to say the least, to be riding upon her friend and suitor's back, clad in nothing but a pelt of fur to hide her modesty; acutely aware of the rub of his own on her bared skin. And acutely aware that he was _very_ much a man, even under his fur-skin.

She didn't have time much to ponder the awkward implications, as moments later the pack was rejoining them just as their small band broke through the treeline.

And she was assaulted with an image of a land seemingly lost to time; covered in huge, sprawling trees, fit between waterfalls and a network of caves that littered the rocky outcropping.

Wolves of all sizes and colors sprawled about the place; more than she'd ever seen in one place before. More than in any normal wolf pack. She counted a rough hundred; and that wasn't even including those in her party, and what she couldn't see hidden in their dens.

They trotted to a stop deep within the boundary of this den; and wolves circled from all sides, slipping from perches and over to them, crowding around their alpha's legs to sniff of the small mortal upon his back, and recoiling from scent of power that rested just below her skin.

Ginta remained by their side though, his human form standing out in sharp contrast to the multitude of canines that filled the space.

He pause then before a cave entrance, and Kouga allowed his pack-mate to help her to slip from his back, before stepping back and ushering her inside.

"What's wrong?" She asks, looking back at the younger wolf she's come to call a friend, and he just laughs delightedly.

"Our old wolf isn't going to want any of us around you while you're so... naked. It really cheesed him off that I've been as close as I have been."

She didn't get a chance to shoot him a smart reply, because said wolf's head was pressing between her shoulder blades, ushering her inside and out of sight.

**************************************************************Note********: Hey Hey everyone! I'm having another writing night with _L_****_yrainthedark_, and I have to say to stay on the look out! The both of us are about to start on a couple of new drabble sets and oneshots. I have another Kagome/Kouga story planned for all of you lovel****ies that****'s going to knock your socks right off, and the both of us are working on some Shippo ****drabble sets. ****  
**


	47. Earth Laughs in Flowers

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Earth Laughs in Flowers**

And she allowed him to gently push her within the protection of the small cave, laughing softly when he prodded her to lay upon a massive pile of sumptuous furs that where tucked far into the back of the space.

Light still touched this place, high on the ridge, but his massive form blocked the most of it as he stood there with tail swishing, waiting for her to arrange herself to his liking.

"Okay, I'm as decent as I can possibly get without actual clothes. Are you pleased now?"

He merely gave a puff of what she assumed was laughter, before collapsing beside her on what she assumed served for a bed, nearly smothering her in all his ruff.

"You're all hot and wet!" She complained, though there was amusement in her voice as she pushed at his heavy form.

It was then she felt a surge of his youki, and the lightheaded popping of displaced air, before strong arms are winding around her, pulling her against his bared chest.

She couldn't tell if he was wearing one of those fur loincloths they all seemed so fond of what with the mass of it she was covered in, but when she turned to look at him, his hair was windswept and damp, and his blue eyes were dark.

"You really scared me out there." He murmured as claws took up residence in her hair, gently combing through her locks with ardent care. "I thought I'd lost you again."

She smiled at that and relaxed into his hold, allowing him to turn her so that they laid face to face in the shadow of the cave. "The boars chased me to the cliffs; I ended up jumping to avoid being skewered."

"Is that how you got this scratch?" he asked, words a soft murmur meant only for her ears as fingers lowered to trace the outline of a rapidly scaring cut.

"Is that what it looks like now? It was much worse when the Lady Tree called me back." His eyes widened then, and she felt his Youki flair in response to her words. "I saw the pink world of the jewel. Last time I was there, I'd wished it away." She admitted, and she didn't resist his pull when he wrapped himself around her.

She should have felt wary of the intimacy after having been apart so long, but she couldn't seem to quell the feeling of pure contentment and belonging that came with someone really caring for her well being. Someone who _knew_ who she was. Someone who understood, and wouldn't try to prevent her from doing what she had to.

**************************************************************Note********: Afternoon everyone****. Keep on ****the lookout for my newest story; a Shippo/Rin drabble set going by ****the tittle _Unseen_, in the ne****xt few days. I'm ****just writing a couple of buffer chapters for it before I begin to post so that you'll have plenty to read. Now if you all excuse me, I'm having a life crisis, and know that the Rule of 3 is currently in effect, so I'm on the lookout for 2 more bombs to be dropped on my reality.  
**


	48. Let the Rain Kiss You

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Let the Rain Kiss You **

His lips brushed over her forehead, before he pressed his nose to the spot, breathing deeply.

"What're you doing?" She asked softly, enjoying the restful peace she found with him, fingers and legs woven together with his in an embrace that had at one point would have sent her running for cover, but instead soothed the torn edges of her that felt ragged and tattered.

"Laying my scent on you." he finally admitted after a long moment of listening to the almost quiet sounds of the pack outside of their cave. Sounding almost far away, though they where surrounded on all sides. "It helps me feel... more at ease. Like I'm back in control of myself."

She shifted to look up at him then, a questioning expression taking up her face. "You are my chosen, and I almost lost you... again. It soothes the beast in me to smell my scent on you, claiming. Reassuring that you are safe. You don't know how much I am holding back right now. I've not felt so much like an undisciplined pup in centuries."

Kagome hummed in acknowledgment then, rubbing her nose against the sensitive skin of his clavicle. "I don't mind, you know." she told him, delighting the soft, rumbling growl that erupted from his chest at the feeling.

So he took her up on her unspoken offer, trailing his lips and cheek down her face. Across the silky smooth skin of her neck to nip at her shoulder. Playing against her breast with light, teasing flicks of his tongue as he pushed her fur covering away; leaving her no shroud left to hide behind.

Hot, panting, breaths against her abdomen made her squirm as he nuzzled he flesh of her belly, relishing her breathy sighs of pleasure and the feeling of her fingers weaving through his hair.

The feeling of his skin sliding against hers in the half-darkness was intoxicating, and his kisses felt like all the drops of rain she always hid form.

**************************************************************Note********: Tired, annoyed, and I really really need ****some****one to cudd****le ****right now. Also, guys, I've started posting my Shippo/Rin fic, Unseen. Please do check it ****out, I promise you won't be disappointed.  
**


	49. Miracles Do Not Break the Law of Nature

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Miracles Do Not Break the Law of Nature **

They laid that way for a long time, fingertips tracing the bared line of anothers spine, memorizing all the angles and scars and textures that spoke of pasts and futures and favorite flavors of soda.

"Miracles do not break the laws of Nature, you know. I really am real." she finally murmured, hands stroking up and down his back from nape to the tip of his tail that amused itself by flicking against her palms and wrapping around her wrist when her fingertips would retreat to start their journey anew.

"I know." his gravely, satisfied voice murmured from his hidden place in his hair, and he rose slowly on one elbow to gaze down at her, brushing her bangs from her brow. "It just feels as if it's a dream, or the gods laughing at me in divine retribution for outliving them."

Kagome laughed at him, her own fingers coming up to play against his cheek, tracing up into his hair to stroke the tips of his ears. And he allowed the contact; eyes falling to slits as a rumbling purr resonated through his chest. She smiled at that, before shifting ever closer, and allowing her lips to ghost over his in a barely there caress that spoke more of her feeling toward him than any passionate embrace ever could.

"And what was that for?" he murmured, his warm breath teasing the sensitive skin of her lips that ached for a more substantial touch in the face of such earlier passion. "For believing in miracles?"

She shook her head softly then. "For waiting."

**************************************************************Note********: ****So fun fact for you all: Did you know that Oral is part of a real wolf's courtship. I'm just going to let that sin****k in****for a bit in reference**** to the previous chapter. Also: If you haven't seen it, I'm offically posting my new Shippou/Rin fic, Unseen. You should go check it out.  
**


	50. When we Charge Into Battle

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**When we Charge Into Battle**

"Couldn't you see?" Kouga leaned forward to press his forehead against her own. "I was waiting for you before we'd even met. You were always lost to me in the wrong time; traveling someplace between here and there; close enough to see and touch, but never have. Never keep."

"And do you intend to keep me now?" She asked, eyes opening slightly.

He shook his head, almost too softly for her to see, though the strands of his hair moving against her cheek alerted her to the action.

"You're like time itself; too transient and too eternal to ever hold onto for long. It would be like trying to capture water with splayed fingers. I could never-" Her bed-mate shot up then, startling her with the speed of his movement as he scented the air around them, a predatory snarl tearing out of his throat.

"Kouga, what-" She felt the pounding throb of youki surging in the distance, the same moment that Kouga was taking off from the mouth of the cave, leaping from the lip and through the air, his form changing as he did. Into something bigger than the great wolf who's back she'd ridden on. Something infinitely more dangerous.

And all at once the peace was broken. There were yips of pain, a battle call of howling, and a ground shaking snarling that filled the silence.

**************************************************************Note********: Hey guys. Sorry, ********my ****whole life is kind of collapsing around my ears right now, so fanfiction isn't my main focus**** at the moment. I hope this is as good a chapter as I think it is, I kind of wrote it while trying not to grossly sob over ****possibly having to leave my cat in the care of someone else for a year.  
**


	51. For Remembrance, as a Reminder

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**For Remembrance, as a Reminder**

Kagome gathered up one of the larger furs to wrap around herself, already knowing of what she was about to do, and made her way out of the den, her lips pressed in a grim line of determination.

And what she saw had her stepping out into the sunlight with bared feet, the dark mouth of cave at her back an eerily appropriate backdrop to the violence that played out all around her.

"Enough!" She shouted into cacophony of blood and teeth and rage, putting enough power behind her voice that every being in the clearing shivered at the touch of her purification.

From all around her she heard the protective snarls of her wolves against the whispers and chants of 'Kill the Miko; Kill her before she kills us!' that sang from the throats of a menagerie of Youkai; a united force of so many opposing creatures that she hadn't before seen come together against any sort of common enemy.

Kouga made to lunge at a raptor that stood as the head of this front, and she held a hand up to stop him. "These wolves are _mine_. And I will kill you to protect them if I have to. I don't want to; I never enjoyed killing, but if you force my hand, I will not spare you."

The great bird have a shrill, squawking laugh at her words. "A Miko who would protect a Youkai? You insult me with your lies. There is no such thing."

"I walked among these trees in a time long before you where born, demon; and I will not warn you again to leave this place. I am a legend the world should _never_ have forgotten, and I could send you straight back to hell if I had to. You don't know who you're threatening, and for that I'll allow the insult to pass. Do not make the same mistake again."

"You? A fragile little mortal woman? Such a lofty bluff; your lifetime is not but the blink of an eye against my power."

A fierce need clawed its way up from the pit of her belly at his words, an indignation and violent urge to remind the world of just _who_ and _what_ they where insulting forced the harsh, threatening reminder out of her throat. A reminder that had all backing away from the power that seeped out of her skin in a glowing pink fog that rolled across her feet.

"I am The _Shikon no Miko_, and if you want me so bad, come and get me."

**************************************************************Note********: So we ****thin****k we've got the wor****ld situated in a way in ****whic****h I have to leave all my worldly possessions in the care of someone who will drive them up for us later, but I can bring my cat. I think everything will be okay at this point, now to just untangle the Knot of stress and worry that is my stomach.  
**


	52. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust**

The raptor hesitated, eyes burning with disbelief, suspicion, and a touch of fear. "The Miko is a legend. She died centuries ago; nothing more than a ghost story now to frighten children at the fire."

"I have fought in wars that ended hundreds of years before you were even born;" She snapped. "I waged war with your ancestors and I destroyed the most powerful evil to _ever_ threaten Japan. I have stood before the gods to be weighed and measured, because I gave my life to right that wrong, and _still_ I am unable to rest. I have the Jewel of Four Souls turned to liquid in my veins; my _reward_ for my _service_ to them. I traveled between worlds, and I've walked across time itself. I am _very_ _much_ real."

When they retreated a few steps, she followed, not willing to let them go so very easily, and she felt the coiled energy at her back when two snarling wolves took up their place at her sides. She knew without even having to look that it was her ever faithful twins.

"I could turn you to ash with a touch. Don't make me do that."

The main group of their attackers moved further from her, and she gave no outward reaction to it. But from the depths of their number, insects rose.

Her eyes instantly recognized them to be _Saimyoshou_; she could never have forgotten them after her battles with them in the time before this one.

But before they could descend upon her, Kouga was there; one giant mass of snarling and rage, lightning shooting from his claws as he swatted them from the sky and crushed them beneath his mighty paws.

Kagome watched in morbid fascination as the Wolf Alpha made quick work of his slaughter; standing taller than any house and his features twisted up into something decidedly more demonic than any mere wolf; looking as if some darker parody of the creature he was.

**Note: So I'm mostly packed for my flight on friday. My stomach is still coiled in tight, heavy knots, but I'm getting better by sheer force of will.**


	53. The Wrath of the Forgotten

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**The Wrath of the Forgotten**

Every line of her body was a challenge. Every breath a dare to come and take what they had fought for as she walked past the pack of wolves who had claimed her life as theirs; claiming them in turn. She carried no weapons, and she did not attempt to hide her bared feet, or the fact of her nudity under the thin shroud of the fur pelt that wrapped around her chest.

And instead they fled back into the trees; retreating to lick their wounds and ponder the lost creature that walked among them once again.

And when she turned back to the pack of wolves; she stood for a time. Just taking in the chaotic image of them; the hatred and respect. The fear and awe. The pain and bittersweet victory. The image of Kouga standing before her with blood marring one russet cheek to flow down his side of his neck in a trail of gore that ended at the waistband of his fur covering; and a cacophony of puffy, irritated punctures that covered what had before been flawless flesh she traced in the darkness.

She approached him with steady steps, bringing them chest to chest. And with taking a firm grip on the ugly black stinger that was protruding from the space between his ribs, she ripped it from him. Neither flinched, nor did their eyes leave one anothers.

"That was a brave thing you did, my little lost Miko." he murmured.

She laughed, and it was a bitter, prideful sound. "They _dared_ to challenge me. They _didn't know who I was_ besides that of a _mere_ holy priestess. My name used to strike fear into the hearts of my enemies; _they should have feared me_."

He merely stood in silence, allowing her to voice all the thoughts that where swirling about in angry patterns in her heart, and she did not cry as she told him all the dark little bits that clung to her, though he could taste the salty tears that laced her words.

"A dead legend is better than a living one that everyone forgets, and I want to be _remembered_. I want back every part of the past that I lost. Not just the rights without the wrongs. _All_ of what it meant to be who I am. The terror and devotion both. The pain of possible defeat; the ecstasy of possible victory. This is both sadness and joy and terrible responsibility of being the bearer of the jewel." she paused for a moment to thickly swallow all of the hardness, all of the strength she'd tried to mask herself with, to let him see beneath it. To the hurt and the deep missing that marred her every action. "I don't want to be forgotten."

"Show them then." He urged in violent whisper as he leaned his forehead against her own. "Show them of who they challenge. Remind the world that you are great and terrible and _loved_. We have long forgotten who we are; the thrill of the battle, the great strength we possess, the heritage that makes us who we are. Give us a reason to be _Youkai_ again."

So the did; loosing a pulsing of power so rich that it is caused even the most mortal of their company to shiver in recognition of what stood before them; a wave of Reiki that washed over the land in a great violent wave.

And along it, ripples of Youki flared in tentative, wary response. None matched her power. None dared to try.

**Note: Okay guys, today has been an emotional day for me. Lots of anger, lots of sadness, lots of joy. So I just kind of tried to pour it all into one drabble. I try to write strong female character that are more than just their power, and more than just the person they are in love with; they are people. And I tried to highlight that here.  
**


	54. The Last Green Chance There Is

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**The last green chance there is in all of time**

She could feel the pack around her, filling in the empty spaces of the clearing; wary sniffing and yips filled the air as they tried to regain the simple normalcy of their existence.

And she tried to let that tentative peace fill her, too.

"My reason for being here is now more important than ever, Kouga." Kagome's hands where moving over his torso, taking stalk of his wounds. "I need to go find that flower."

"I cannot die, you know. I'm far too old for such a thing."

She couldn't help the rueful smile that curled up her lips at that, her fingertips tracing the outline of a puffy, inflamed hole which stood out starkly against his flesh that he didn't even seem to notice the presence of, though the muscles of his abdomen flexed under her tickling touch. "Being an old man doesn't make you immortal."

"No, my long since immeasurable power and status of a _Daiyoukai_ does. I don't think you realize sometimes just how few of us Old Ones are left. The Dog Lord is the only left in all of Nippon that could challenge me now, and it has been centuries since either of us rose to our true potential."

He seemed sad by that, and she took his hand in hers. "And that doesn't mean that I'm not going to try and help you anyways, Kouga. It just gives me more reason too." at his curious look, she continued. "I met you because I am here on a quest, and it is one I must complete. But that doesn't mean that it is the only journey I must undertake; there is a reason the jewel chose me; the girl from the future. It's because I have a grander mission to complete."

"And what is that?"

"Saving you all from yourselves."

**Note: Sorry I've been gone guys; I was getting over my altitude sickness, and getting settled in my new apartment. I just started at my new job, and am leveling out finally, so I'll start to be more active again soon when I can get my schedule on track.  
**


	55. The Nature of Reality

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**The Nature of Reality, The Reality of Nature**

That her wolf was taken aback was an obvious assessment. "Saving us from ourselves?"

She nodded slightly in acknowledgement. "There was a reason, Kouga, that the jewel chose a woman from the future, rather than a girl from the past; to _alter_ the past." Deep knowing flashed in his eyes; an understanding she hadn't expected to see there. "The jewel took me back so that when the time came, The Old Ones -the ones who need me the most- would know of who I was when I returned. They would have told the world my story, and in doing so, gave me what I need to save them."

A fangy smile began to curl with every word she uttered, dark amusement in his eyes. "I think I see what you're getting at here. A big to do."

Her own smile grew. "The biggest."

"I'm thinking we might need The Dog Lord in on this one, he does own an advertising company, among other things; and I know for a fact he's been itching for the old day."

"What are you two scheming, Little Sister?" The hesitant voice of Hakkaku came to her from somewhere behind her.

"It sounds like something really drastic." Ginta chimed in, sounding just as wary as the two approached.

"You're not going to just be forgotten gods anymore;" She told them, voice rising until she was speaking to all of the wolves, and they where coming forward to hear what she had to say. "Your powers slipping further and further from you with every passing year as your kind grow small and stupid and mortal. It's the forgetting that tears at the magic in you; the worlds disbelief of what was once fact. You have allowed yourselves to become not more than myth and old world superstition. But no more. It's time for the world to remember what sort of dangerous beasts are hiding just beyond the shadows of their dreams. It's time for you to become Youkai again; great and powerful creatures. Protectors of the land."

They howled for her words, and all that they meant.

**Note: ********Today was my first day off, and I spent it watching Romantic movies in Korean on Netflix, Reading mangas, finishing up 'The Girl Who Chased The Moon', writing, and procrastinating at being a productive adult because I needed to be cleaning the apartment, which i never actually did get around to.**  



	56. The Best Laid Plans

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
**

**The Best Laid Plans**

"Are you sure that's a good idea, little sister?" Ginta asked, his brother coming forward to finish his thought.

"There are many of our kind,"

"Who would want to rule over the mortals,"

"In revenge for years of having to hide."

"How will we keep them from trying to eat people,"

"Like in the old days?"

Kagome held up her hand to stop the two, soothing them with a smile, but before she could begin, Kouga spoke.

"There will be no war. There will be no killing or death or anything of that nature. The human's will not try to destroy us, nor us them. Because we have on our side the one thing that can keep both of our opposing forces at bay. A human woman who can tame beasts; a priestess who's power is unmatched by all -even the oldest of our kind. Kagome, the Shinkon no Miko, who traveled the world more than Four centuries ago, walks among us again, and she will help us regain our former glory, as long as our return to the world is handled correctly."

Kagome nodded at that, taking Kouga's arm in her hands. "Do not worry, my friends. This will come in time, for now, we still have a quest we must finish, and a flower we must find."

Another wolf rose then, coming forward with head cocked slightly in confusion. "But if the Alpha cannot die from these stings, why is it so important that you get the herb you seek?"

"Because no quest becomes unimportant in the face of something greater. Because you must finish the things you begin."

**Note:Okay, for everyone who's all freaked out; none of this being spoke of now: the youkai rising again, the world accepting myth as real, is going to happen in THIS story. There will be a SEQUEL, which will be completely optional in reading, that contains that content. I FULLY intend to end No Mi in a way that if you do not wish to read the 'coming out' arch of this story, there will be no cliffhanger, or half ending for you. This story will end upon the completion of her quest to get the flower. Chill. I promise that I know what I'm doing.  
**


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